Vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

A vacuum cleaner has an air path for drawn air, one or more portions of which have their surfaces nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material. In an embodiment, a vacuum cleaner has a suction brush with an air inlet, a dust collecting apparatus in fluid communication with the suction brush, and a body having mounting locations for a dust collecting apparatus and a motor assembly to generate suction force. One or more portions of the air path surface of the dust collecting apparatus that contacts the air is nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2004-110041 filed on Dec. 22, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of vacuum cleaners,and in some embodiments, to antibiosis and sterilization functionsuseful in vacuum cleaners and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a vacuum cleaner rotates a motor to generate a suction forcefor drawing in dust and contaminant-laden air, separates and collectsdust and contaminants (hereinafter called contaminants) from the drawnair by use of a dust collecting apparatus, and discharges pure airwithout contaminants to the outside.

In the dust collecting apparatus that collects contaminants separatedfrom the contaminant-laden air, germs or bacteria contained in thecontaminants are gathered. Generally, the collected contaminants in thedust collecting apparatus are not immediately emptied but stored for acertain period until the contaminants fill the dust collectingapparatus. Germs or bacteria present in the contaminants collected inthe dust collecting apparatus propagate and, therefore, must besterilized.

To meet the above needs, a material having an antibiosis andsterilization function is added to a raw plastic material duringmanufacture of the dust collecting apparatus. For example,nano-particles such as silver having an antibiosis and sterilizationfunction are added to a raw plastic material for manufacturing a dustcollecting apparatus through injection molding. The resulting dustcollecting apparatus is able to provide an antibiosis and sterilizationfunction.

The method for adding nano-silver particles to a raw plastic materialwhen manufacturing a dust collecting apparatus as mentioned above,however, increases manufacturing costs. If a dust collecting apparatusis molded with a raw plastic material containing nano-silver particles,the particles in the mold that do not directly contact contaminant-ladenair do not contribute to the antibiosis and sterilization effect. Inorder to create a sufficient concentration of nano-silver particles onthe surface of the dust collection apparatus that directly contactscontaminant-laden air, the overall concentration of nano-silverparticles in the raw plastic material must be sufficiently high. It istherefore necessary to add a large quantity of nano-silver particles tothe raw plastic material. The amount of nano-silver particles within thedust collecting apparatus that does not contribute to the antibiosis andsterilization function is greater than the amount of nano-silverparticles on an inner surface of the dust collecting apparatus whichdirectly contacts contaminant-laden air or contaminants.

Additionally, an increased quantity of nano-silver particles added toraw plastic material tends to decrease productivity of injection moldingand reduces strength of the resulting parts.

In other words, it is difficult to obtain effective antibiosis andsterilization function with the conventional method for addingnano-silver particles to a raw plastic material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an exemplary embodiment, a vacuum cleaner is provided with asufficient antibiosis and sterilization effect while using a relativelysmall quantity of nano-particles of an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial as compared to a conventional method.

In some embodiments, a vacuum cleaner operates with an antibiosis andsterilization effect without requiring addition of nano-particles ofantibiosis and sterilization material to a raw plastic material forminga dust collecting apparatus. In this manner, injection moldingproductivity and strength of the resulting parts are maintained at ahigh level.

In exemplary embodiments, these and other advantages that will beapparent on review of the disclosure are achieved by providing a vacuumcleaner comprising a suction brush having an air inlet; a dustcollecting apparatus fluidly communicated with the suction brush thatseparates and collects contaminants from drawn air; a motor assemblygenerating a suction force; and a body partitioned into a dustcollecting chamber where the dust collecting apparatus is mounted and amotor chamber where the motor assembly is mounted, wherein the surfaceof the air path of the dust collecting apparatus contacting air drawnvia the air inlet is nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial.

In the dust collecting apparatus, surfaces where a filter is mounted andsurfaces where collected contaminants are accumulated may be nano-coatedwith the antibiosis and sterilization material.

When a dust bag is applied to the dust collecting apparatus, the innersurface of the dust collecting chamber is nano-coated with theantibiosis and sterilization material.

The antibiosis and sterilization material is comprised of silver and isnano-coated using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method.

In further embodiments, a vacuum cleaner comprises: a suction brushhaving an air inlet; a dust collecting apparatus fluidly communicatedwith the suction brush that separates and collects contaminants fromdrawn air; a motor assembly generating a suction force; and a bodypartitioned into a dust collecting chamber where the dust collectingapparatus is mounted and a motor chamber where the motor assembly ismounted, wherein inner surfaces of the air inlet, the air inlet path ofthe suction brush contacting the air, the inner surfaces of the air pathconnecting the suction brush and the dust collecting apparatus, and theair path surfaces of the dust collecting apparatus, are nano-coated withan antibiosis and sterilization material.

The surface of the motor chamber of the body contacting air drawn fromthe dust collecting chamber may be nano-coated with the antibiosis andsterilization material.

As described above, because only the surfaces that the drawn aircontacts are nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization materialsuch as silver, a reduced amount of antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial can be used to achieve a desired antibiosis and sterilizationeffect, as compared to a vacuum cleaner that incorporates antibiosis andsterilization material through conventional means.

Additionally, in embodiments where only the surfaces of the dustcollecting apparatus that come into contact with contaminant-laden airare nano-coated with the antibiosis and sterilization material,injection-molding productivity and strength of the resulting structuresare enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cyclone dust collecting apparatuswhich is an example of a dust collecting apparatus of a vacuum cleaneraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a nano-coatedportion with an antibiosis and sterilization material of the cyclonedust collecting apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the cyclone dust collectingapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bagless dust collecting apparatus fora vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a nano-coatedportion with an antibiosis and sterilization material of the baglessdust collecting apparatus of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum cleaner body with a dustbag for a vacuum cleaner as a dust collecting apparatus according to yetanother embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining an air path nano-coated with anantibiosis and sterilization material of a canister type vacuum cleaneraccording to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Certain embodiments of the present invention will be described ingreater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, drawing reference numerals are used forthe same elements even in different drawings. The matters defined in thedescription such as a detailed construction and elements are nothing butthe ones provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of theinvention. Thus, it is apparent that the present invention can becarried out without those defined matters. Also, well-known functions orconstructions are not described in detail since they would obscure theinvention with unnecessary detail.

A vacuum cleaner generates a suction force to draw in air and separatesand collects dust and contaminants (hereinafter called contaminants)from the drawn air to perform cleaning. The vacuum cleaner comprises asuction brush having an air inlet for drawing in air, a dust collectingapparatus fluidly communicated with the suction brush that separates andcollects contaminants from the drawn air, and a cleaner body partitionedinto a dust collecting chamber in which the dust collecting apparatus ismounted and a motor chamber in which a motor assembly generating asuction force of air is mounted.

The suction brush directly contacts a surface to be cleaned, andcomprises an air inlet provided in a lower surface that draws incontaminant-laden air, and an air inlet path in which the air drawn viathe air inlet flows. The inside of the air inlet and the air inlet pathin which the drawn air flows may be selectively nano-coated with anantibiosis and sterilization material. The air inlet path is connectedwith an air inflow unit which fluidly communicates with the suctionbrush and the dust collecting apparatus. The air inflow unit comprisesvarious structures depending on the type of vacuum cleaner. Forinstance, an extension pipe assembly generally connects a suction brushand a dust collecting apparatus in a canister type vacuum cleaner forair drawn in the suction brush to flow into the dust collectingapparatus. In an upright type vacuum cleaner, a lead-in hose mounted ata vacuum cleaner body connects a suction brush and a dust collectingapparatus. The surface where the drawn air contacts and flows can beselectively nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The dust collecting apparatus separates and collects contaminants fromair, and may include a cyclone dust collecting apparatus, a bagless dustcollecting apparatus or a dust bag therein. The inside of the dustcollecting apparatus where the drawn air flows and the inside portionwhere contaminants separated from the drawing air are gathered arenano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material. ‘Antibiosisand sterilization material’ means a material killing or hindering growthof bacteria and microorganisms, for example, in the range of 1 nm˜100 nmin size. Silver is a representative example of the antibiosis andsterilization material. ‘Nano-coating’ means coating a surface of aparticular element of a device such as a dust collecting apparatusnecessary to performing an antibiosis and sterilization function withnano-sized particles of antibiosis and sterilization material. Thenano-coating methods typically used are chemical vapor deposition (CVD),liquid-phase synthesis methods, and other appropriate techniques. Thedetailed description thereof will be omitted since the CVD and theliquid-phase synthesis method are well-known technologies. The termsantibiosis and sterilization material and nano-coating will be usedhereinafter in the same meaning as described above.

Surfaces nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material varydepending on the type of dust collecting apparatus in use, and this willbe described in greater detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

First, a surface nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial will be described in an exemplary application to a cyclone dustcollecting apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a cyclone dust collecting apparatus 1comprises a multi cyclone unit 11, a cover unit 12 connected to the topportion of the multi cyclone unit 11, and a contaminants collection unit13 connected with the bottom portion of the multi cyclone unit 11.

The multi cyclone unit 11 comprises a primary cyclone 20 and a secondarycyclone 30 arranged concentrically around the primary cyclone 20.

The primary cyclone 20 comprises a cylindrical inner case 21, a suctionport 23 for drawing air into the inner case 21, and a grille member 27connected with an air outlet 25 of the inner case 21. The inner case 21is integrally formed with an outer case 31 which will be explainedbelow. The bottom of the inner case 21 is open, and the top thereof isopen to connect with the air outlet 25. The air outlet 25 is configuredto have smaller diameter than that of the inner case 21. An air guidewall 26 connects the air outlet 25 and the inner case 21. The air guidewall 26 is configured in a predetermined length to have graduallydecreasing height from the outside of the air outlet 25 and to extendcircumferentially in a spiral configuration. The air guide wall 26comprises a domed top portion and a flat bottom portion. The domed topportion of the air guide wall 26 is connected with the suction port 23.The suction port 23 guides contaminant-laden air into the inner case 21.The suction port 23 is connected from the outside of the outer case 31to the inner case 21. In the embodiment shown, the suction port 23 is inthe shape of a non-circular cylinder, and the top wall of the suctionport 23 is connected with the air guide wall 26. Air enters via thesuction port 23 and the air guide wall 26 flowing into the inner case 21and is guided to gradually move downward and to form a rotating airstream such that a centrifugal force operates on the drawn air. Thegrille member 27 prevents relatively large contaminants centrifugallyseparated in the inner case 21 from flowing backward and moving out viathe air outlet 25. The grille member 27 comprises a body 27 a having aplurality of minute pores and a skirt 27 b engaged with the bottomportion of the body 27 a. The body 27 a has an open top portion and iscylindrical. The top of the body 27 a is connected with the air outlet25. The bottom portion of the body 27 a is closed, and the skirt 27 bextends along the outer circumference of the bottom portion. The skirt27 b has a smaller diameter than that of the inner case 21 and a largerdiameter than that of the body 27 a. The skirt 27 b preventscontaminants centrifugally separated in the inner case 21 from flowingbackward. Accordingly, constituent parts of the air path which directlycontact the incoming air, such as the inner surface 23 a of the suctionport 23, the bottom surface of the air guide wall 26, the inner surface21 a of the inner case 21, and the outer surface of the grille member 27in the primary cyclone 20, may be nano-coated with an antibiosis andsterilization material.

The secondary cyclone 30 comprises a plurality of cone members 33arranged circularly at the outside of the inner case 21, and the outercase 31 covering the cone members 33. Secondary cyclone 30 uses a spacebetween the inner case 21 and the outer case 31 as a dust-collectingplace. The cone members 33 in secondary cyclone 30 each have an open topand an open bottom portion. Air passing through cone members 33 forms arotating air stream that descends from the top portion of the conemembers 33. The air then ascends to exit cone members 33, and fine dustparticles in the air are centrifugally separated, dropping out of thebottom portion of the cone members 33. The secondary cyclone 30 isconcentrically formed around the primary cyclone 20 in a multi cyclonestructure, and the plurality of cone members 33 of the secondary cyclone30 are formed to cover at least one portion of the outside of theprimary cyclone 20. Referring to FIG. 2, a plurality of cone members 33of secondary cyclone 30 are positioned at intervals along the outercircumference of primary cyclone 20 except for a portion where thesuction port 23 is formed. The secondary cyclone 30 is integrally formedwith the primary cyclone 20. In an embodiment, the inner case 21 and theouter case 31, the cone members 33, and the suction port 23 areintegrally formed. Accordingly, an inner surface 33 a of the pluralityof cone members 33 and the inner surface 31 a of the outer case 31directly contacting the drawn air in the secondary cyclone 30 arenano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material. The outersurfaces 33 b of the plurality of cone members 33 and the outer surface21 b of the inner case 21 may be additionally nano-coated with anantibiosis and sterilization material.

The cover unit 12 comprises a first cover 40, a second cover 50 and agasket 60. The first cover 40 guides air via the primary cyclone 20flowing into each of the plurality of cone members 33 forming thesecondary cyclone 30. The first cover 40 is engaged with the top portionof the multi cyclone unit 11, and a gasket 60 is disposed between thefirst cover 40 and the top portion of the multi cyclone unit 11. Thefirst cover 40 comprises a plate-type cover body 41, a plurality ofcentrifugal paths 43 circularly arranged with respect to the center ofthe cover body 41, and a discharge hole 45. The centrifugal path 43forms the air discharged to the air outlet 25 of the primary cyclone 20into a rotating air stream to guide the rotating air stream to anentrance of the upper portion of the cone members 33 of the secondarycyclone 30. In other words, the air via the air outlet 25 of the primarycyclone 20 ascending toward the center of the cover body 41 is scatteredand moved along the plurality of centrifugal paths 43 in all directions,and flows in each of the cone members 33 as the rotating air stream. Thecleaned air, removed of fine dust by the centrifugal force of therotating air stream of the cone member 33 of the secondary cyclone 30,ascends and is expelled via the discharge hole 45. The air dischargedvia the discharge hole 45 is exhausted to an exhaust port 51 along aguide path 52 in the second cover 50. The second cover 50 is engaged tocover the top portion of the first cover 40 and gathers air exhaustedfrom each of the discharge holes 45 to discharge it to the outside. Thegasket 60 has openings 61 corresponding to each of the cone members 33of the secondary cyclone 30. The openings 61 are configured at a certaininterval to be aligned with the discharge holes 45. The openings arenon-circular and guide air to increase a centrifugal force of air streamflowing out of the centrifugal path 43. The air path surface of thecover unit 12 in contact with the drawn air is nano-coated with anantibiosis and sterilization material. More particularly, the topsurface of the first cover 40 in which the air discharged from thedischarge holes 45 flows, and the guide paths 52 of the second cover 50are nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material. A portion45 a connected with the cone members 33 of the bottom surface of thefirst cover 40 and an inner surface 43 a of the centrifugal path 43 arealso nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The contaminant collecting unit 13 is detachably mounted to the bottomportion of the multi cyclone unit 11. The contaminant collecting unit 13comprises two spaces A and B partitioned to separately collectrelatively large contaminants and fine dust which are centrifugallyseparated each from the primary and secondary cyclones 20 and 30. Thecontaminant collecting unit 13 comprises a main receptacle 70 and apartition member 80 in the main receptacle 70. The main receptacle 70has the same outer diameter as that of the outer case 31, and includesan engagement part 71 engaged with the bottom portion of the outer case31. The isolation member 80 comprises a cylindrical inner body 81connected with the bottom portion of the inner case 21, and a skirt part83 extended from the lower end of the inner body 81 and connected withthe inside of the main receptacle 70. In the first space A, formed bythe inside of the isolation member 80 and the lower portion of the mainreceptacle 70, relatively large contaminants separated from the primarycyclone 20 are collected. The second space B, formed by the outside ofthe isolation member 80 and the upper portion of the main receptacle 70,is connected with the secondary cyclone 30. Fine dusts,centrifugally-separated from the cone members 33 of the secondarycyclone 30, are collected in the second space B. As such, the inside 70a of the first space A and the inside 80 a of the second space B, whichcontact drawn air and collect separated contaminants therein, arenano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material in thecontaminants collecting unit 13.

The operation of separating and collecting contaminants of the cyclonedust collecting apparatus 1 having aforementioned structure will beexplained hereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, contaminant-laden air flows in via thesuction port 23. The flowing air is guided by the air guide wall 26 toform a rotating air stream and flows into the inner case 21. Relativelylarge contaminants are separated from the air by a centrifugal operationof the rotating air stream and fall to be collected into the first spaceA of the main receptacle 70. Air passes through the grille member 27 andis expelled via the air outlet 25. The air ascending via the air outlet25 collides with the first cover 40 and spreads to be led into themultiple cone members 33 of the secondary cyclone 30 along a pluralityof the centrifugal paths 43. The air led in the cone members is guidedinto a rotating air stream according to the configuration of thecentrifugal paths 43, and therefore, a further centrifugal operationoccurs in the secondary cyclone 30. Accordingly, fine dust that was notseparated in the primary cyclone 20 is separated and falls from thedrawn air in each of the cone members 33 of the secondary cyclone 30,and the drawn air is discharged toward the second cover 50 via thedischarge hole 45 of the first cover 40. The fine dust separated in thesecondary cyclone 30 is accumulated in the second space B of the mainreceptacle 70. The air discharged via the discharge holes 45 of thefirst cover 40 streams out in a predetermined path via the exhaust port51 along a guide path 52 of the second cover 50. The exhaust port 51fluidly communicates with a motor assembly (not shown). Because thesurfaces of the air path which directly contact air flowing into theprimary and secondary cyclones 20 and 30 of the dust collectingapparatus 1 are nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial as mentioned above, bacteria in the intake air are removed. Theinsides 70 a and 80 a of the contaminants collecting unit 13 are alsonano-coated, and therefore, bacteria in the collected contaminants aresterilized.

Next, an exemplary application of a nano-coated surface to a baglessdust collecting apparatus will be described. The bagless dust collectingapparatus also separates and collects contaminants using centrifugalforce of an air current, as does a cyclone dust collecting apparatus. Inthe case of the bagless dust collecting apparatus, typically a dustcollecting part is arranged in parallel with a cyclone part. FIGS. 4 and5 show examples of the bagless dust collecting apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a bagless dust collecting apparatus 100comprises a cover unit 130, a bagless body 110 and a door unit 150.

The cover unit 130 is detachably mounted to a top portion of the baglessbody 110. By separating the cover unit 130 from the bagless body 110, auser can have easy access to a cyclone part 113 and a dust collectingpart 115 provided in the bagless body 110 so that repair or maintenanceoperation is easy. As the cover unit 130 is mounted to the top portionof the bagless body 110, a contaminant-transfer path 118 is accordinglydefined which connects the cyclone part 113 and the dust collecting part115. Accordingly, contaminants, when centrifugally-separated from drawnair in the cyclone part 113, move into the dust collecting part 115 viathe contaminant-transfer path 118. A suction part 131 may be integrally,or separately formed with the cover unit 130 at a center of the frontside of the cover unit 130. The suction part 131 fluidly communicateswith an air inflow unit (not shown). For example, if an extension pipeassembly 320 (refer to FIG. 7) is applied as the air inflow unit (notshown), the suction part 131 leads air to sequentially flow via asuction brush 310 (refer to FIG. 7), an extension pipe 321 (refer toFIG. 7) and a flexible hose 322 (refer to FIG. 7) into the bagless dustcollecting apparatus 100. Accordingly, inner surfaces 130 a and 131 a ofthe cover unit 130 and the suction part 131 which contact the drawn air,are nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The bagless body 110 comprises the cyclone part 113, the dust collectingpart 115, a connection path 111, a discharge part 114, a dischargefilter part 120, and a handle 119.

The connection path 111 is configured in the middle of the bagless body110 and guides air flowing into the suction part 131 to flow into thecyclone part 113. A mesh mount opening 112, in which a mesh filter forfiltering fine dust is mounted, is configured at the connection path111. The inner surface 111 a of the connection path 111 contacting thedrawn air and a portion around the mesh mount opening 112 in which themesh filter is mounted are nano-coated with an antibiosis andsterilization material.

The cyclone part 113 is configured at one side (right side of theconnection path in FIG. 4) based on the connection path 111 in thebagless body 110, and takes the shape of a spiral which causes theintake air to form a rotating air stream. A leading path 117 is providedat the lower portion of the cyclone part 113, which guides flowing airvia the suction part 131 and the connection path 111 to stream into thecyclone part 113. Contaminants in the air flowing into the cyclone part113 are separated from the air by a centrifugal force. The air flowingin is in direct contact with the inner surface 113 a of the cyclone part113, and therefore, the inner surface 113 a of the cyclone part 113 isnano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The discharge part 114 takes the shape of a circular pipe incross-section, protrudes at a certain height from the center of thecyclone part 113, and discharges the air from which contaminants havebeen removed to the discharge filter part 120. The discharge part 114may be integrally or separately formed with the cyclone part 113. Theair flows to contact the outer surface 114 b of the discharge part 114as well as the inner surface 113 a of the cyclone part 113. Therefore,the outer surface 114 b of the cyclone part 113 is nano-coated with anantibiosis and sterilization material. Because cleaned air flows overthe inner surface 114 a of the discharge part 114, the inner surface 114a of the discharge part 114 may also be nano-coated with antibiosis andsterilization material if necessary.

Referring to FIG. 4, the dust collecting part 115 is configured at theleft side based on the connection path 111, in parallel with the cyclonepart 113 of the bagless body 110, and collects contaminants separatedfrom the cyclone part 113 via the contaminant-transfer path 118. Acurved barrier member 116 bends downward at one side of the dustcollecting part 115 to prevent the collected contaminants from flowingbackward into the cyclone part 113. The dust collecting unit 115 has anopen bottom, and therefore, contaminants collected in the dustcollecting part 115 fall by gravity and are removed when a door unit 150is opened. The inner surface 115 a of the dust collecting part 115directly contacting contaminants is nano-coated with an antibiosis andsterilization material.

The discharge filter part 120 is mounted to a rear side of the baglessbody 110, and filters air flowing via the mesh filter of the connectionpath 111 and air flowing via the discharge part 114. The dischargefilter part 120 fluidly communicates with a motor chamber 332 (refer toFIG. 7), and therefore, air flowing via the discharge filter part 120flows to a motor assembly 333 (refer to FIG 7). The discharge filterpart 120 comprises a filter 121 and a filter housing 122 extended fromthe bagless body 110 and the filter is mounted thereto. The innersurface 122 a of the filter housing 122 contacting the filter 121 isnano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The handle 119 takes on the configuration of a flattened U, is mountedto the front side of the bagless body 110, and is provided for theuser's grasp when the user separates the bagless dust collectingapparatus 100 from the vacuum cleaner body 330. Additionally, a button119 a is mounted to a lower portion of the handle 119 to open and closethe door unit 150.

The door unit 150 is mounted to the bottom portion of the bagless body110 using a hinge 151 which allows it to be opened and closed. When thedoor unit 150 is opened, bottom portions of the connection path 111 andthe dust collecting part 115 are opened such that contaminants collectedin the connection path 111 and the dust collecting part 115 fall bygravity and are discharged. Accordingly, the upper surface 150 a of thedoor unit 150 forming the bottom surface of the connection path 111 andthe dust collecting part 115 may be nano-coated with an antibiosis andsterilization material.

In the bagless dust collecting apparatus 100 having the above structure,air flowing into the suction brush 310 (refer to FIG. 7) is led into thebagless dust collecting apparatus 100 via the suction part 131. Aportion of air led into the suction part 131 is discharged to thedischarge filter part 120 via the mesh filter of the connection path111, and the remaining air is led into the cyclone part 113.Contaminants in the air flowing into the cyclone part 113 are separatedand collected via the contaminant-transfer path 118 into the dustcollecting part 115 by centrifugal force. The air, with contaminantsremoved, is discharged to the discharge filter part 120 via thedischarge part 114. Surfaces of paths where air in the bagless dustcollecting apparatus 100 flows may be nano-coated with an antibiosis andsterilization material as mentioned above, and therefore, bacteria inthe air are sterilized and removed. The inner surface 115 a of the dustcollecting part 115 is nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial, and therefore, bacteria in the collected contaminants are alsosterilized. The air flowing out of the discharge filter part 120 of thebagless dust collecting apparatus 100 is discharged to the outside ofthe cleaner body 330 (refer to FIG. 7) via the motor assembly 333 (referto FIG. 7) of the motor chamber 332 (refer to FIG. 7).

Finally, nano-coating surfaces with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial will be explained with respect to the case where a dust bag isapplied for a dust collecting apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 6, the dust bag 200 is mounted in the dust collectingchamber 220 of the cleaner body 210. A filter seat 221, where the dustfilter is mounted, is provided at the rear side of the dust collectingchamber 220 fluidly communicated with the motor chamber 230 where themotor assembly 231 is mounted. Accordingly, contaminants in air flowingin via a suction brush (not shown) are held and separated by the dustbag 200 and fine dusts in air passing through the dust bag 200 aresecondly separated in the dust filter 222. In order to remove bacteriain the dust bag 200, the inner surface 200 a of the dust collectingchamber 200 is nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial. The filter seat 221 where the dust filer 222 is mounted isnano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

In a further embodiment, the entire inner surface of the air paththrough which contaminant-laden air flows in a vacuum cleaner can benano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material. In otherwords, the entire inner surface of the path through which air flows froma suction brush to the discharge opening is nano-coated with anantibiosis and sterilization material. As described, an antibiosis andsterilization material such as nano-silver particles can be applied tothe inner surface of the air path of a vacuum cleaner through which airflows in any type of vacuum cleaner. A canister type vacuum cleaner willbe explained hereinafter as a representative example of a vacuumcleaner.

Referring to FIG. 7, a canister type vacuum cleaner 300 comprises asuction brush 310, an extension pipe assembly 320 and a cleaner body330.

The suction brush 310 directly contacts a cleaning surface, andcomprises an air inlet 311 provided at the lower portion of the suctionbrush and drawing in contaminant-laden air and an air inlet path 312through which air drawn in by the air inlet 311 flows. The air inlet 311and the air inlet path 312 form an air path. Accordingly, inner surfaces311 a and 312 a of the air inlet 311 and the air inlet path 312 may benano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The extension pipe assembly 320 comprises the extension pipe connectedwith the suction brush 310 and the flexible hose 322 of which one end isconnected to the extension pipe 321 and the other is connected to a dustcollecting apparatus (not shown) of the cleaner body 330. The innersurface 321 a of the extension pipe 321 and the inner surface 322 a ofthe flexible hose 322 form an air path. Accordingly, the inner surfaces321 a and 322 a of the extension pipe 321 and the flexible hose 322 maybe nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.

The cleaner body 330 is partitioned into the dust collecting chamber 331where the dust collecting apparatus (not shown) is mounted and the motorchamber 332 where the motor assembly 333 generating a suction force ofair is mounted. The dust collecting apparatus mounted in the dustcollecting chamber 331 may comprise a bagless dust collecting apparatus,a cyclone dust collecting apparatus, or a dust bag, as mentioned above.The air path and nano-coated surfaces of the dust collecting apparatusmay be selected as desired, in accordance with the description herein,and therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted. The motorchamber 332 forms an air path where air cleaned via the dust collectingapparatus passes and discharges to the outside of the cleaner body 330.An inner surface 332 a of the motor chamber 332 forming an air path maybe additionally nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial if necessary.

In a vacuum cleaner, by nano-coating substantially the entire innersurfaces of the air path formed from the suction brush 310 to thedischarge opening 335 of the cleaner body 330 with an antibiosis andsterilization material, all the bacteria in intake air can be removed asthe air passes through the air path, and therefore, the discharged airis substantially pure and without bacteria.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising a suction brush having an air inlet; adust collecting apparatus in fluid communication with the suction brushand separating and collecting contaminants from intake air; a motorassembly generating a suction force of air; and a body comprising a dustcollecting apparatus mounting location and a motor assembly mountinglocation, wherein at least a surface of an air path of the dustcollecting apparatus contacting the intake air drawn via the air inletis nano-coated with an antibiosis and sterilization material.
 2. Thevacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein a surface of the dust collectingapparatus proximate to a filter mounting location is nano-coated withthe antibiosis and sterilization material.
 3. The vacuum cleaner ofclaim 1, wherein a surface of the dust collecting apparatus wherecollected contaminants are accumulated is nano-coated with theantibiosis and sterilization material.
 4. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1,wherein when a dust bag is applied to the dust collecting apparatus, aninner surface of the dust collecting apparatus mounting location isnano-coated with the antibiosis and sterilization material.
 5. Thevacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial comprises silver.
 6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein theantibiosis and sterilization material is nano-coated by a chemical vapordeposition (CVD) method.
 7. A vacuum cleaner comprising: a suction brushhaving an air inlet; a dust collecting apparatus in fluid communicationwith the suction brush to separate and collect contaminants from intakeair; a motor assembly generating a suction force; and a body comprisinga dust collecting apparatus mounting location and a motor assemblymounting location, wherein inner surfaces of the air inlet and air inletpath of the suction brush contacting the air, an inner surface of a pathconnecting the suction brush and the dust collecting apparatus, and anair path surface of the dust collecting apparatus are nano-coated withan antibiosis and sterilization material.
 8. The vacuum cleaner of claim7, wherein a surface of the motor assembly mounting location in contactwith air drawn from the dust collecting apparatus mounting location isnano-coated with the antibiosis and sterilization material.
 9. Thevacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the antibiosis and sterilizationmaterial comprises silver.
 10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, whereinthe antibiosis and sterilization material is coated with a chemicalvapor deposition (CVD) method.